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Monday, December 14, 2009

How To Treat Your Wife

by Wayne Bullard
Reprinted without permission


     The empty juice glasses just sit there on the breakfast table.   It was hard for a dedicated-loving-husband such as me not to jump up, grab the juice out of the fridge and fill the two glasses—but that’s not what the smart-dedicated-loving-husband does if he knows what’s good for his marriage.   I just waited, looking at my empty glass with a humble look.  Pretty soon she noticed her error, apologized profusely while jumping up and filling up the little glasses—me first of course.  We both had a good laugh over it.
      I have written before about how important it is for a man to create ways for his wife to feel useful and needed by serving him better—but how do you handle it when she gets sick?  That depends on just how sick she is.  My wife hasn’t been feeling well lately but rather than inducing feelings of inadequacy on her by trying to horn in on her housework-duties by doing them myself—as a majority of ill-advised modern-day husbands would do—I just try to be more patient.  She needs to be given time to perform her labors and not feel rushed.  Now is a good time to give her an “ata-girl” for keeping up with her work.   
      It is alright for a man to do housework when his mate is actually hospitalized, so feel free to do so.  Exercise caution that you don’t get the house too organized or clean while she’s gone.  That could induce feelings of inadequacy on your mate and we know you don’t want that.  Right before she comes home from some minor thing such as childbirth she needs to know she was missed.  Place out a few dirty dishes and string a few pieces of dirty laundry around the house.  She’ll love you for it.  Exercise gained from doing housework is the best treatment for post-partum depression.  We all know that a busy woman is a happy woman.
        A woman who breaks a limb can be a challenge to a loving husband.   If it’s a leg and she can get around on one crutch there is no problem.  She may need an extra Lortab now and then but with dishwashers and other gee-whiz gadgets in today’s home, there should be no problems although it is wise to let her know that you are as close as your easy chair in the rare cases she would need any help. 
       Wheelchair-bound-wives present other problems.  How much she can do in a wheelchair may be directly proportional to the amount of wheelchair access your home affords.  I keep my hallways and doors open and wheelchair ready, just in case.  Do not put a wheelchair ramp out front as she should not be wasting her energy outside her work areas.   This will help her to stay up with her work thus keeping her spirits high.  A broken arm may be a problem from a pain standpoint (remember the Lortabs) but it too will heal faster if she stays busy.
          There are times when you can actually help her with her work.  For instance, when she’s vacuuming, you can follow her around and point out the spots she missed.   This saves her the heartache of discovering (albeit later) that she has missed some spots.  Pointing out dust on a table or handing her a spray bottle of Windex and watching cheerfully as she brings the glass to a shine builds memories and   tightens the bonds of affection between the two of you.  Keep track of when she last changed the furnace filters or polished the dining room light fixtures.  She’ll love you for it. 
     I would give you some more advice but I have to have the dishes washed and trash carried out before my wife gets back from her Christmas shopping.  She was pretty firm about that.  Meanwhile my hopes are for a blessed Christmas Season for each of you and don’t forget to go to church this Sunday.
Wayne Bullard, Pharm. D.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Hands and Feet

As I prepare to speak to many students on Wednesday night, I have been thinking a lot about the works of Jesus while on earth. He served, he saved, he healed, he transformed, he loved. But what did he do that left an impression?

Miracles? Not really. In fact all through scripture we are amazed at the miracles that took place--parting of the Red Sea, Balaam's ass*, Jonah, Jesus turning water into wine, Jesus healing, Jesus resurrecting Lazarus, demons being cast out. But the interesting thing about almost every miracle is that they usually didn't lead to life change. Even Jonah was griping soon afterward! The Israelites turned their back on God just days after God saved their rears from the Egyptian army. The Jews went from shouting Hosanna! to Crucify! in like 4 days!

Speaking of Jesus, people loved what Jesus did, but few loved Jesus. So who did he really effect? The disciples. The followers. Those in whom he invested. Jesus was a mentor, a teacher, a rabbi. And I think to be Jesus' hands and feet today, we have to make that our tallest order. Invest in people, mentor the young, pour into their lives, and walk with them. Sure, volunteering at a shelter or handing a sandwich to a man on the street is a great thing to do. But most of your time should be spent investing in other people. Jesus did everything. And the people that started the New Testament church and kept it going were those with whom Jesus spent the most time. Peter. James. Brother James. John. Paul. Timothy. Barnabus. Not all of those men knew Jesus while he was on earth, but the domino effect of discipleship kept the movement going.

So what are you doing to invest in people? How are you making a difference? In our church this week, we are looking at Matthew 25:31-46--the parable of the sheep and the goats. When did we see Jesus hungry? Thirsty? We served? We did because it was in our very nature. We valued people. We saw needs, we met them. Without even thinking. When people become your priority, service will become natural. Jesus' hands and feet responded to Jesus' mind and heart. They just followed directions. So should you and I.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

My First OU-Texas Game

As I prepare to embark on my 25th OU-Texas game at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, I am taken back to my very first experience at the Texas State Fair. The year was 1982. I was eight. My brother had the two tickets this year. My parents ran the drug store and somehow we got the 2 tickets my family of 6 was allotted.

I was so excited. I probably didn't sleep much after Wednesday night. We left early on Saturday morning. Being so young, I had a short memory of the series. However, unlike most 8 year olds, I was aware of the series record, past history, etc. But from live action memory, I only knew of Oklahoma losses. I remembered 1979, a 16-7 loss. I was at Papa and Mamadoes. I remember Papa turning off the TV as Texas ran out the clock. He was peeved. The eighties brought on more of the same. Seems like a 20-13 and a 34-14 loss. Any journalist--or blogger--worth his salt would look that up. I'm just cocky enough to fire off those scores without looking. The only way to prove I didn't research it would be to get a score wrong. Oh sweet irony...

So we get to the fair. We ride a roller coaster. That was also a first for me. And then we went into the game. We sat just left of the ramp. I remember watching the players come up the ramp. I was so overwhelmed. I knew that I must never miss this game again!

Texas, I seem to recall, led early, but OU was able to take a lead. Then, it happened. Well, he happened. Marcus Dupree. A seldom used true freshman that had all the acclaim that Adrian Peterson had. Switzer had not played him much leading up to the game. He was probably saving him as a secret weapon. I think Barry mentioned, publicly, that Marcus just wasn't ready yet. What, to pick up blitzes? OU never threw. OU's offense was simple. Get ball. Hold on to ball. Run fast with ball like you stole it.

Number 22 went for like 163 that day. Texas never knew what hit 'em. OU won 28-22.

I was so happy. We left the fair, hit a fun house or two on the way out, cheered with fellow Sooner fans and headed out to my brother's 1980 Monte Carlo. A young neighborhood kid asked us who won. When we told him OU he celebrated. I thought that was cool. Kids are smart in Texas, I contemplated.

So Saturday I will walk into the fair for the 25th time. I have witnessed 12 OU wins, 10 losses, and 2 ties. There are lots of stories. I have seen bad calls, bad performances, upsets (usually by Texas, unfortunately), and fantastic finishes (all won by Texas).

The only things I have really learned about the game are the following:
1. The "Mo". Never seen momentum swing like in this game. If it's on your side, you better take advantage. Soon Texas will get it and when they do, they will capitalize. 2000 was the only year I can ever remember when Texas never had it. Not for a second.
2. If Texas is the better team, they win. If OU is slightly the better team, Texas usually wins. If OU is overwhelmingly better, OU usually wins. I have only seen this rule broken once. 1996.
3. Texas fans are always late for the game. Weird. They all wear shirts that say "Come early, Stay late, Be loud." Apparently that is a suggestion.

Finally, my reminiscings.
1. 1984. Total ripoff. We won 15-12 and I'll always believe that. I was at Oregon in 2006 and that was also a huge travesty. This one was worse and bigger. Stansbury intercepted that pass and it wasn't close. In today's game, even Pac 10 officials would have overturned that call.
2. 1985. We were awesome. They were terrible. We ran the bone which was overwhelming to weak opponents but didn't stop the clock. Therefore we were up 31-0 at half and eased to a 47-12 win. In today's spread passing game, we would have beaten them as bad as we wanted given the talent discrepancy. And I mean something like 77-0 unless we chose to take a knee the entire 4th quarter.
3. 1989-1991. Texas won those 3 games (and 1992 to take 4 in a row after OU won 4 straight). Three of the most painful losses in the series for me. Why? OU was decidedly better all 3 years. In fact, even in all 3 games OU was better. Especially 1990. Watch that replay and you will never figure out how Texas won. Same with 1991. OU was actually better in 1992 as well, but not as much, and definitely not that day. Texas drilled us. But in 89-91 triumvirate, OU controlled the games--statistically, in the trenches, everywhere. We just never managed to put the games away. Texas won all 3 in the end. In 1991 we led 7-3 the whole game, then fumbled at the end and they ran it in. Those were tough losses to swallow. Kind of a microcosm of why Texas leads the series while having the lesser program. They just always seemed to win the games that came down to the wire.
4. 1996. We had no business winning. But we did. It was the salve game. For all the times Texas won and shouldn't, this was the mother revenge game. While the gap wasn't as bad as 1985, Texas was about a 20 point favorite. But OU seized some magic late in the game, tied it and pulled it out in overtime. OU was 0-4 coming in and Texas won the Big 12 that year. That was the first year for the Big 12. Literally, that game along with the Syracuse game the following year, was the only bright spot in John Blake's career.
5. 2000-2004. Five in a row. 63-14. 14-3. 35-24. 65-13. 12-0. I wondered if Texas might ever beat us again. We owned them. I miss that OU. I miss that Bob Stoops. We had swagga (sorry Miami). The 63-14 game was just domination. Texas just couldn't get going. The 65-13 game was strange because Texas hung in there and had some things going for them, then in the middle of the second quarter the wheels just came off and they quit. The 12-0 game was amazing because we had AD and they had VY. Great defense. The 14-3 game had the Roy Williams Superman play.

Those are just a few memories. I have many. And I don't regret going to any of them. Even the game I had a sideline pass and Ricky Williams scored about 9 touchdowns. Well, until the next blog, Texas sucks and Boomer Sooner!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Sand, Rock, your choice.

As I have been reassessing our youth ministry and thinking about how we teach, what we teach, and even how we raise our kids altogether, many, many thoughts have gone through my mind. Am I overprotecting? Am I helping parents or competing with them? Am I doing everything I can to be a good resource to our parents? Am I teaching things that are on point and relevant and, most of all, useful? Then, I showered.

Showers are great. Not only do they help one hygienically,  but they also create a dampened closet of solitude to process one's thoughts and allow for what is often the only moment of meditation of the day. This can often lead to using all of the hot water which, ironically, will put me in more!

But back to the point, I was thinking in the shower as I squirted Dial (manly) shower gel onto my loofah (not so much). And I thought about the story Jesus told about the man who builds his house on the sand versus the man who builds on solid rock. Of course, it is a simple story. The houses in this parable represent our faith. The sand and rock represent the foundation. What is my faith built upon? What is it made of? What am I living for? Christ or a mirage of following Christ?

Simple enough.

But in our culture, we have created another option. An option that Jesus failed to mention--perhaps he didn't think of it--in his parable. That is the option of building elsewhere. In our Christian subculture, we have decided that this parable is not all-inclusive. Jesus says storms will come, build on rock. We say, better yet, why don't we build where storms don't come! Take your rock, I'm going to San Diego! We think we can dodge storms, but we cannot. We try to keep our kids from hearing about sex, being around druggies, and seeing bad things on the 10:00 news, but somehow the storms do find us.

Therefore, I am choosing to help our students find the rock. No more teaching them to run from storms. No more avoidance of difficult subjects to avoid difficult phone calls and emails from over-protective parents. We must create a place where students can discuss taboo subjects. We have always said we want our kids to learn about sex from us (parents, the church) before they learn it in the locker room. But what about evolution? Church or science class? Difficult faith issues, church or philosophy class?

I am not sure I need to tell kids what to think. I don't know if teaching apologetic is enough. I think we need to ignite in students a passion to know the truth, to seek the truth, and to connect the truth with God. Because God = Truth. If it's true, then God made it that way. Instead of solely teaching our kids what to believe, why don't we spend more time showing them what rock looks like? Where its found. How to build on it.

Those are my thoughts. Please weigh in with yours.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Rules are important. Follow them!

As a rule, everyone hates rules. In fact most people's rule #1 is: there are no rules. That works until about 5 minutes after one peels themselves out of bed. Then rules apply. Like no one should be occupying the bathroom within 10 minutes of my awakening. My morning relief must take precedent over all others' needs! My second morning rule is I absolutely have dibs on the sports page.


So do me the honor of allowing me to opine on the subject or rules. Enjoy mine below. Most have to do with driving, of course.

1. If you're in the right lane at a red light, please turn right. I hate having to wait for green as the second car in line when I could clearly be on my way to make it before Sonic Happy Hour is over.

2. Mmmmm Sonic. I actually have my own Sonic rules. They apply to the drive through. Only ice cream and drinks in the drive thru! Maybe, maybe cheddar bites or tots. Family of 4? No way! Pull into a slot. Burger? Slot. Two orders of cheddar bites? Close, but slot it. 4 drinks max. Basically, I should never really have to ever stop my car's forward motion while in the drive through. Why can't people get this? This isn't rocket science. It's not all about you, Captain Youplanet.

3. Car's should come packaged with multiple horn sounds. And each sound should be a universally understood tone, as follows.
Beep Beep-- Hey, excuse me, sir, but the light has been green for a couple of seconds now. I'm sure you'd like to go as much as I would.
Beep Beep Beeeeep-- OK, seriously, are you waiting for a specific shade of green?
Honnnnnnnnnk!!!!!-- You actually just sat through an entire green light. This horn automatically emits a signal to the DMV who dispatches an officer to revoke the driver's rights to operate a motor vehicle anywhere on earth except Shanghai. If several people in the same district transmit this signal simultaneously, the DMV will catch on fire and burn to the ground killing all who have fallen asleep in line. So use this horn only in dire situations. Like at 3:58 at the intersection within throwing distance of Sonic.
4. Cars should also come with easy to access message centers that display on windshield, back glass and side windows to easily share one's thoughts with passers by. Who hasn't been driving or riding along and you'd like to say something to the car you are passing like, nice hair, bodacious poodle, your right back tire is flat, your teenage daughter is making out in the backseat, or some snide retort to their bumper sticker?

5. Bumper stickers. While I would like to outlaw them, I realize that--quite hypocritically--I occasionally find one rather amusing. Therefore, let's just offer reform. No more than one bumper sticker per cause/candidate/club. If you hate republicans, dislike Christians, support Darwinism, like recycling, or think homespun saying are funny, then it just takes one Calvin urinating sticker, one fish with legs, or one zinger to amuse (or shake your fists at) victims stuck behind you. If you do choose to deface your back bumper, glass and/or tailgate, at least have the common decency to pull to the shoulder and let us pass.

6. Speaking of passing, let's discuss the use of the left lane. If you are driving anywhere near the posted speed limit, you have no business in the left lane. If you have to pass, do it quickly. Else, get over with grandma and enjoy the Oklahoma scenery.

7. Scenery. Not a lot in Oklahoma. But we do enjoy a good wreck. That is why we choose to slow to 10mph to gawk at the remnants of a crash that is often in the other lane of traffic, off in the ditch, or somewhere that does not require the over use of one's brakes. Rubberneckers should be charged $15 for the view. Proceeds go to fix the car that was smashed.

I have so many more, but I am tired. I promise an update on Francesca soon. She is talking like crazy nowadays. Not English. Probably not even Klingon. Just her own vernacular. I think she just says poop and feed me over and over again. Rule #8. Babies should come with subtitles.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Guest Blog Part 1 - My dad, Wayne Bullard

So, my mom and dad are on vacation to DC. Actually, greater DC. My dad was a sailor on a ship called the USS Johnny Hudgens back in the day. And the surviving midshipmen are having a reunion. And, as he did 2 years ago with the USS Lexington, my dad made a showing. I may add his first email later, as it is as hilarious as this, depending on demand.

The following is his second email to me detailing his trip. (Actually addressed to all 4 of us children)

Well, we made our cruise on the river OK.  It was a dinner cruise and the food was OK.    Some  kind of unidentified bits and pieces of meat in some sort of  sauce....I mean if you care for stuff like that-- we floated about and passed some of the old parts of town and watched the scenery from a window-- through the misty rain.   Lots of old sailors here.  Tonight we    had a meal of "potato crusted Halibut" just for the heck of it and it was OK.  Hope they didn't catch it in any of the muddy polluted waters we spent 3 hours on.
    Tomorrow they will "haul" us down to the Mall and I don't know where else yet. 
We are going to decide that tonight-in a few minutes I think.
Sunday is a free day.  There is a  big march tomorrow on the capitol called the 9/12 thing and I will see it I guess, whether I want to or not.  I believe it is another tea party.  Glen Beck is to speak.  I don't know what is left to see after tomorrow, but that's what Sunday is for.  We will probably just drive around, out to Mount Vernon and places like that.  I want to spend a little time in the Smithsonian Museum of American History.  I may go back to the Holocaust museum too, it's very interesting.
    Anyway, we are doing OK.  Except for the fire.
Last night the fire alarm went off.   At 1:35AM it did.  Very loud horn (brand new) and a white flashing light woke up our tired old bodies.  I peeked out and told Pat..."don't worry about a thing...I'm pretty sure it's a false alarm as I put on my pants."  I walked down to the desk and there about 55 people were on their way out.  Outside.  A fire truck  could be heard zonking his way toward the hotel.  Another one was coming too.  The Pakistani clerk was answering two phones a time saying..."Fire on floor 3, get out now!!!"    
    I went back to 131 and told your yawning mom, "just a false alarm but let's get dressed."  She is a gentle soul and I sure didn't want to alarm her.  "You might want your purse, your car keys, your cell phone, and anything else you would want to save in case the fire is real and we can't come back in," I said, calmly. 
     With that, and a backward glance at my laptop I went back to the hall.  By this time the loud fire alarm had about ruined my hearing but I could see a new and alarmed group in the main lobby which is where we went.  I went on outside to look for smoke.  Harry said, "it's up on 3rd floor" as I noticed he was in undershirt, PJ bottoms and one sock on his right foot and a bare foot on the other.  I stared at the foot and he said, couldn't find my other sock and didn't look for the shoe.  My room is on the 3rd.  "Did you see any fire?" I asked Harry, but he said, "no, just smells like the place is burning down and it's smokey."
    That was enough for me.  I didn't know which to do first, move my DeVille further off from the hotel and then go back inside and encourage my frightened wife to come on and say to her   "Let's  go to Oklahoma."  I decided my car was far enough away as the firetrucks continued to arrive along with police cars.  I scanned the parking area for TV vans to see if any of them wanted to see how I was taking all this, but saw none.
     I went back in the lobby from the chill night and my wife was doing an excellent job concealing her fears and concerns.  In fact she was trying to cheer up some of my old shipmates and showed no signs of the fear I knew was bound to be enveloping her very being.  I let her be....ready to make a break for it by way of my soon to be afire room if I had to.  Two more firemen, carrying axes, followed closely by two wearing OBAs**  made-their way to the stairs as a cop warned people not to go back upstairs nor use the elevators.  I hadn't seen such pessimism since Bill Cathey had delivered his prognosis on main street Allen one night about a car wreck out on 48 which had "killed" Glenn Hunnicutt...or so he mistakenly thought.  **Oxygen Breathing Apparatus
     My friend, Happy John and his live in Church of God of Prophesy girl friend had yet to show up and I was concerned but I didn't know what room he was in.  I should not have worried.  I couldn't have awaken him or her if I had  wanted to.  The next day John said he and Margaret had gone to their  room and gone to bed after taking out their hearing aids, their teeth and unscrewing their fake appendages and ingesting a few sleeping pills.  They heard nothing and were quite bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning--in stark contrast to the Jap across the hall who fled wearing only his T Shirt.  I didn't look back at him to be sure if he had any shorts on or not but I know your mom did.  Had my name been Lot, she would be a pillar of NaCl.
     I was more than a little bit let down when the firemen starting coming down on elevators, as spic and spiffy looking as they had looked going up...the fireman, the one who stopped and explained it to us,  said it was a bag of microwave popcorn mis-programmed on a microwave and while there had been no actual blaze, had there been one, he would have put it out along with the other dozens of dedicated ax swingers in attendance. 
     Tired and disappointed we all went back to our chambers where we tossed and turned for more than a few minutes before drifting off to sleep. 
     I will now take your mom down the hall, where a rousing party is underway in one of the meeting rooms and continued this blessed meeting.  Have a good night, Love,
Wayne Bullard
601 E Lee Street
Allen, Ok.74825-0517

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Ode to the Padres and other Sub-par Teams

So my Padres climbed out of last place last night. That's really the only silver lining in my dark cloud of sports recently. My Sooners just had an awful terrible weekend which culminated in their entire All-America team being out for the season. (exaggeration but probably will happen before season's end) Guess I'll have to buy a program on Saturday. Who are these people?

Of course, my quixotic nature still fixates on a national championship. But, I'll surely wake up and smell the overpriced coffee. Or at least drink a cup.

But back to my Padres. Yes, I have been a hopeful fan for 27 seasons now, 14 of which--including this season--have been below .500. So yes I am faithful. That makes me a good husband and perhaps a better Sooner fan in the long run. Yes we are spoiled, us Sooners, but we shall persevere. In the 90s, even when things were bad beyond belief, the stadium was still 85-90% full. With only 2 exceptions, at least 65K people came every year from 1994-1998 (the dark ages).

But I was brought up that way. Don't abandon your teams. Don't abandon your family. Don't abandon your church. Lord knows we could've left our church a few times. Geez, it was just terrible at times. But we never left. We stayed through thin and thinner. Guess that's why I have very little understanding of "church hoppers" but I guess it's necessary on occasion.

So here's to you, 4th place Padres! And to you, last place Thunder! And even to you, 0-1 Sooners. I'll be there on Saturday. I'll cheer you on against the Idaho Kiwanis Club. And I'll be there at the end, when Bedlam strikes, even if things don't look promising for the Crimson and Cream.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Steve's Long-Awaited Football Preview

It's football season, and I've always wanted this kind of forum. No one ever gave it to me before, so I had to create my own. Thanks, Blogspot, for having me.

Pro.

Who knows? Steelers? Patriots? Cardinals? Vikings? Giants? Cowboys? Colts? Probably one of those.

Three NFL Predictions for 2010:
1. Tom Brady will break a fingernail and it will lead off Sportscenter.
2. Tony Romo will enter a new relationship in the vicinity of mid-December (silly if only for the reason of having to buy her a Christmas present, then turn around and come up with something for Valentine's Day) and the Cowboys will lose their last 4, including the first round of the playoffs.
3. The Detroit Lions will win 2 games.

College.

As much as I would love to see my Sooners win it all, it just seems unlikely. First, we play a very difficult schedule. And while all our games are winnable, it seems like there will be a trip-up somewhere, even if we slip by Texas. Plus, Sam Bradford could rescue an entire orphanage from a fire and still fall painfully shy of surpassing Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy in Jesus Points. It really is difficult to watch. Now, I'm all for players being strong Christians, I just hate it when they have to play for such evil empires. What's next, Rick Warren's son playing at USC?

So, who is the favorite? The only good thing about Florida returning 42 starters (seemingly) is that with all their top recruiting classes they have stacked up, it means keeping those guys off the field another year. Florida and USC are the only 2 schools who benefit from graduating players.

Oklahoma State. Since many of my readers are Oklahoma State fans, allow me to make a few prognostications for you. First of all, your season consists of three games. The rest are not only winnable, but double-digit favorite winnable. You are assured of 9 wins. But, welcome to the big time where nine wins is a letdown! This is how it feels to be unsatisfied with mediocrity. Isn't it great?

Game 1: Georgia. How to beat the mighty Bulldogs from the SEC. One, jump on them early and often. Bulldogs can smell fear. And mailmen. So don't show up with any letters in your satchels...or stuffed in your pads. Breaking in a new quarterback should mean that Georgia will not score early. The Pokes need to jump up 14-0 after one quarter of play, cruising to a 21-7 halftime advantage. The second half may be a little more difficult. Georgia has perhaps the top offensive line in the country. This group of fatsoes will take over in the second half if OSU cannot sustain drives. My prediction: OSU does jump ahead and holds on for a 31-23 win. Cowboy fans drive home happy with the game and completely distraught over that intro song that country music poser wrote. Even Toby Keith would be embarrassed.

Game 2: Texas. Vince Young was in 5th grade the last time OSU beat Texas. But shorten the game to 30 minutes and OSU owns the Horns. So that's the key to this one. Figure out a way to cancel the second half. I am sure with a little creativity and a lot of Boone Pickens' money, this could happen. Whether he buys a thunderstorm, Gallagher-Iba tips over, Al Brown streaks across the field, or some cows get loose on the field, I don't know. But I know this: at the half, OSU 27, Texas 10.

Game 3: Oklahoma. Well how can I possibly be objective on this one? Oklahoma is unbeatable at home, only losing twice in Bob Stoops' career. Once to TCU and once to ... uh oh. Could it be? Could OSU pull off the unthinkable again? Um, no. This is Sam Bradford, not Nate Hybl. But it also won't be the blowout the past 3 games in Norman have been. Bedlam will also be shockingly low-scoring this year. Final will be in the neighborhood of 24-14, much like the 1984 showdown in Norman, which I attended as a 10 year old. And yes, Zac Robinson is no Rusty Hilger.

As for the Sooners, I predict a nice opening win over the Mormons. We'll call it 37-14.

Next blog: I promise a Francesca update. And, Breck, I'm working on your request.

Monday, August 31, 2009

This Whole Blog Thing

So I decided to write a blog. This is difficult, because I am not a very interesting person. Now I have all kinds of views, pet peeves, leanings, theological inaccuracies, the lot! But I am not real sure that's what we want to read about. Especially since this is linked from our official student ministry web site!

So, perhaps you can suggest topics for me. Football, superheroes, italian food, favorite grandmotherly sayings, theories of animal husbandry, balloon animals, or just simply memory verses for the week. All, well most, okay some, of these topics I actually know something about. But we'll see if it can be interesting.

But since this is a youth ministry blog, I will say something about youth ministry. It is good! haha

Revolution Student Ministry exists to compel students to know and serve God. I just believe that if we can help students CARE about Jesus and other people's needs, then they will have a huge impact on this world. And I think we are accomplishing this. Sure we still have selfish kids who care absolutely nothing more than how their own needs can be served. But we are working on them! We also have kids who maybe care about others only because it makes them look better. But we ALL struggle with that a little. But little by little, meeting by meeting, conversation by conversation, we see improvement.

Thank you, parents, for taking your job seriously. Thank you for not expecting our youth ministry to do your work for you. Thank you for letting us just be the "grad school" of your entire teaching system. Let me know how we can help you even more. (please leave a comment so I will know I have a reader!!)